Australia locations

Alice, all those abbreviations are correct and can be used as per US state abbrev.

Cheers Bronnie QLD

"AliceW" wrote:

I would also like to point out that the post/zip code is very important to the address. This also determines the state and I would suggest that using the abbreviations for the states is OK, but I would definitately use the full word Australia.

I have also heard that some postal workers in Australia even have sent letters to Austria - they must have all been having senior moments.

Even perfectly addressed doesn't always work, we once got some mail that had taken a trip to Bangkok, even with a perfectly typed address label on it, printed by the mail provider in the country of origin.

Cheers Anne

Actually it's not just okay to use them, but the "Australia Post Preferred" way to address letters here is to have the state's abbreviation used. I know some have said about Austria/Australia, but that's just a simple misreading error. Once they realise it's Australia, the state's initials make perfect sense.

Yep . . . relates to the electronic scanning system AustPost uses - so the two upper case characters "WA" are better recognised than the scrawl likely to result from a hand written Western Australia, and processing time for scanning fewer typed characters is quicker and clearer. It might be quicker by only 000ths of a second, but on millions of items a day every bit counts lol. You are LESS likely to have mail redirected if you stick to the preferred formats, but let's face it - accidents do happen.

Same applies with all the big postal services.

As for WA being confused with Washington - if it is directed to the wrong country it probably isn't because the state code is "WA", it's because someone didn't process the country properly. If your US mail is clearly marked "Air Mail" and "AUSTRALIA" then any address marked "WA" is unlikely to end up in Washington. It ain't impossible - but given the volume of mail, chances are pretty remote! And please don't tell me that because WA means something else in the US that we need to adjust OUR addressing ystem - 'cos it just ain't gonna happen rofl.

(Just wait until they make us all use printed bar code addresses on all our mail!! That would be their dream for processing.)

Well done Alice for having the foresight to ask! May your mail always arrive on time and undamaged for your thoughtfulness.

I have to admit that I have problems with American addresses. Do I put the State abbreviation and the zip code on the same line or do I put the State in full and then the zip code. Do I write U.S.A or USA? I get confused with some of the addresses. Old age creepeth up on me at a gallop. Ruth, Sydney

The American address would go on an envelope as:

Name house number and street address city, state zip code

City and state go on the same line separated by a comma. The zip code follows the state with only a space between. The zip code can also go on the next line. I seen it both ways.

You can find US addressing recommendations on the post office website: .

Julia in MN

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AliceW wrote:

Thanks Alice, Makes it a lot easier. Ruth, Sydney

Then we have those US citizens that don't know the names of their 50 states. New Mexico is a state that they are not aware of. Mexico is a country, and some people think New Mexico is also a country.

Have you seen this?

It is from some FOX game show during celebrity week. I gather the appallingly ignorant blonde is somebody or other from American Idol.

Now that is enough to make you embarassed to be, human, female, and blonde, in about that order. However since I am not blonde I am open to petitions from blondes to have a higher ranking.

Now please somebody tell me that that was an act and she is not that addlebrained. If it was not an act, she probably doesn't even know New Mexico exists, thinks that NYC and LA are states, and imagines that Hawaii is an island nation in the caribbean.

NightMist

Kellie Pickler is a country singer and was on idol (I don't watch it). I suspect some of it is acting and some not. I am always amazed when people don't know states, country's, etc. In some surveys lots of people don't know who the president of the us is. Sad really. I suspect they are not quilters, as we seem to be above average : )

I always say don't believe everything you see on tv, but she may be that ignorant. Who know and who cares, but that is just my opinion.

Denny in Fort Wayne

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NightMist wrote:

When it was only required to take Math and Reading tests. I think grades from teachers are pretty much meaningless since they are frequently given (not earned) due to pressure from parents and administrators. The tests cover standard content and skills. Sometime in the near future Nevada high school students will have to pass a Science test to graduate from high school. I worked with one of the women who made questions for the Nevada Math tests. She seems to think every kid should grow up to be a rocket scientist. Whatever happened to business math? Isn't accounting also taught in college?

In 1968 when I started teaching in Montgomery County, Maryland, I was told that there wasn't time to teach Social Studies and Science in the primary grades because teachers were busy teaching Reading and Math. Anybody here graduate from a New York school under the Regents' tests requirements way back in the early 60's?

Thanks for this whole discussion, folks: it makes me feel a little less defensive. If you all are talking about the level of ignorance in the US, maybe it wasn't that __I__ just come across as stupid. I was wondering if I somehow gave the impression of being a mental midget in need of a reminder that "Northern USA" stretches across a whole continent when I posted that we were beginning to book a tour of trunk shows across Canada and the Northern US. I'm not great at geography [although the basic course was a requirement for my BA], but I do know that both countries stretch from one coast to the other [and in Canada's case to yet another!]

Originally, I had been concerned that "Northern" might be construed to mean "Alaska", since Alaska is a bit beyond our scope. I was told that Alaska isn't usually considered to be part of the Continental USA [huh? Of which Continent is it therefore considered to be part?] Someone want to explain that to me?

In Canada, we might feel disconnected from the Northern parts like Nunavut [and since it's only officially 7 years old, half of us are unsure which part of the north actually constitutes Nunavut, and which is Yukon...but that's a whole other dilemma!] But we still consider it all part of "Continental" Canada [not that that's a term we ever use.]

Ok...speaking of the geographically challenged..............I had to look up Nunavut. I learned something today! I'll have to see if DH has this info...a trivia question for the dinner table.

I didn't question your understanding of what "northern USA" meant, but since it is huge, I was a bit surprised that your tour would extend that far.

You are right -- "continental USA" is ambiguous. Down here, we usually understand "continental US" as the "lower 48" -- those 48 states that are contiguous.

Julia in MN

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Take a look at how the government is formed in Nunavut: a VERY refreshing relief from the current American party infighting. [scroll down to Consensus Government]: